


Natural Symbiosis

by NoLifePoints (Vesperbat)



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon, Smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-24
Updated: 2017-11-24
Packaged: 2019-02-06 04:51:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12810000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vesperbat/pseuds/NoLifePoints
Summary: Years after graduation, Jounouchi can't understand why Haga is still in Ryuuzaki's life. Why did he give up his pride as a duelist for Haga's slimy schemes? But some things matter more than pride, and birds of a feather must flock together. Or bugs. Or dinosaurs.





	Natural Symbiosis

Jounouchi rubbed his eyes beneath the aggressive neon light of the convenience store, home of the cheap, unremarkable, 24/7 coffee that would keep him running long enough to make it home. Karaoke all evening, then dinner, then back to Honda’s for a few rounds of cards. Then ten. Then twenty. A couple of movies later, he had to call it quits. Sure, Honda offered to let him stay, and maybe he should have taken him up on it, but things were… more complicated now.

So, here he was, ready to chug a coffee with ten sugars and book it back home before the cold could completely invade his old, miserable parka. Yet, something drew him to a halt. A man stood to the right of the door, arms folded, back pressed up against the yellow brick and glass. A winter beanie nearly concealed his downcast eyes.

Jounouchi straightened. “If it ain’t Dinosaur Ryuuzaki!”

Ryuuzaki snapped out of his daydream, eyes wide, and swept his bangs out of his face (apparently he hadn’t outgrown the purple). He blinked, as if some daydream seeped into his reality and needed to be cleared away. “Jounouchi? It’s been a while!” Coughing, he added, “Kinda rare to hear that name these days.”

“Not dueling?” Come to think of it, Jounouchi couldn’t remember spotting him on any rosters in recent memory.

Ryuuzaki shrugged. “How’s it goin’ on your end? Still dominating, I’m sure...”

Jounouchi cracked a lopsided grin and rummaged in his pocket. “Would be, if I were competing.”

“Wait. Seriously?” Ryuuzaki’s head snapped up. “Why _not_?”

Jounochi stared. Awfully strong reaction. He returned the shrug. “Just... too much going on. I needed a break.” Finally, his hand closed on his cigarettes. He fell against the wall and extended the pack, but Ryuuzaki waved him off.

“Tryin’ to quit.”

“Yeah, me too.” Jounouchi stuck a cigarette in his mouth and mumbled around it. “Say… what’re you doing standing around out here?”

“Waitin’ for Haga.” Ryuuzaki sighed. “I’m always afraid he’s gonna get shook up for his lunch money on the way home.”

With a snort, Jounouchi said, “He always was that kind of guy. He working here now?” Ryuuzaki nodded. Awkward silence settled over them, and Jounouchi added, “I guess you guys are still tight, then.”

“Pretty tight.” Ryuuzaki kept his voice so neutral, it was almost suspicious.

Another moment curled away before Jounouchi said, “You know, I’m kind of surprised.”

Ryuuzaki cocked his head. “About what?”

“That you haven’t ditched him.” He exhaled slowly, warm breath swirling into smoke beneath the pale orange light. “Never really got how you could stand him.”

Ryuuzaki stared past the empty parking lot, out across the intersection. “Yeah, I guess you wouldn’t.” His voice was flat, but something in it made Jounouchi twitch.

“What’s that supposed to-”

Ryuuzaki held up a hand. “I know. You’re kind of an underdog. Everybody _likes_ that.”

Jounouchi’s cheeks glowed red in the winter air. Suddenly conscious of the gathering cloud of smoke, he angled himself away from Ryuuzaki. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

“Enough of them. ‘cause… you’re an underdog. You’re not a loser.”

Jounouchi wasn’t used to this – not from a disgruntled former opponent. “Well, yeah!” he said. “Doesn’t matter what anyone says. I got what it takes.” He went to thump his chest and nearly shoved his cigarette into his shirt. Flailing it away at the last second, he scrambled to keep from dropping it.

Ryuuzaki didn’t laugh at him. He didn’t even look. “You can believe that,” he said, “’cause it’s true. You don’t know what it’s like.”

Part of him could get used to this. Someone got him. Someone recognized him for the talent he really was. They weren’t even friends, which made him an objective observer – at least in the sense that his judgment couldn’t cloud with warm and fuzzy feelings. Ryuuzaki had nothing to gain from stroking his ego.

And yet, Jounouchi _had_ been a loser. Past tense. That was the important part. He started at the bottom, and still, Yuugi believed in him. Shizuka did, too. His friends gave him the courage to change. Now, he simply wasn’t a loser to begin with? Somehow, he felt... cheated.

“You were so good,” continued Ryuuzaki, shaking his head and half-smiling like he'd told a sick joke. “Nobody thought you’d be good, but you were.”

“Well-” Jounouchi frowned. “You’re not bad, you know. You could have been better. How’d you expect to get anywhere with a guy who does nothing but lie, cheat, and steal?”

Ryuuzaki spun on him, eyes blazing. “You know what, Jounouchi? You know what? I kind of stopped caring.”

Jounouchi’s mouth fell open, cigarette forgotten between his fingers. “I just meant-”

“Do I think he’s a jerk? Yes. Do I like that he cheats? No. Could I have done better? Maybe! But you know what else? He was _there_.” Ryuuzaki's hand dove into Jounouchi's pocket and snatched a cigarette. He didn't wait for Jounouchi to offer him a light. Quitting or no, he sure kept his own lighter handy.

It had been a long time since Jounouchi had seen him this worked up. Somehow he hadn’t expected it, not of this newer, older, more subdued Ryuuzaki. “… didn’t know you felt like that.”

Ryuuzaki turned to the cars zipping by on the road again and took a short, irritable puff. “Maybe you should have.”

“Y’know… you’re right. Maybe I should have.”

Now, Jounouchi realized, he really had been a loser. No, he was worse. He wasn’t even playing. He had no restraint, no ambition, and no self-esteem, but he had Honda. Before he ever met Yuugi... when seeing Shizula again was just a distant dream... Honda was there. Jounouchi shook his head. What had gotten into him tonight? Nothing was _complicated_. It was the simplest thing in the world.

Jounouchi’s hand jumped as the cigarette burned down to his skin. “Shit!” He flung it down and ground it beneath his toe. Maybe it was for the best, given the sappy train of thought it managed to interrupt.

Ryuuzaki extinguished his own barely-touched cigarette against the wall - a waste which Jounouchi did not appreciate - and folded his arms behind his head. “At Battle City, that duel you had with Roba… you remember?”

“Huh?” Jounouchi stopped scraping the pavement with his sole. “Yeah, of course. How could I forget?”

Ryuuzaki sighed. “I didn’t want to see you win and show me up, but I didn’t want to see you get humiliated, either. I knew what it felt like.”

“Well, thanks. I know you didn’t really believe in me, but… it was kinda nice, having you there. Felt like you were on my side.”

“I kind of was. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t angry.”

“Can’t blame you for that," Jounouchi said. "Not even Haga.”

“Doesn’t matter now, though. We gave up, so leave us alone and let us live out our sad little lives in relative peace.”

Jounouchi’s eyes widened. Before he could respond, before he could _argue_ , the door slid open. Another familiar face passed through it, soon to be accompanied by a familiar, grating voice.

“Ugh! Today was the worst. I had to count the drawer three times- eh? Ryuuzaki?” Haga blinked as Ryuuzaki grabbed his arm and dragged him forward. His nose wrinkled. “Wait. Is that Jounouchi Katsuya?”

“He’s gotta be going,” said Ryuuzaki, not looking back. “Now. And so do we.”

“Huh? Right now? But I...” Haga glanced over his shoulder, still blinking. Finally, he smirked and turned back around, no longer fighting Ryuuzaki’s brisk pace. “Oh, well. That guy’s a loser, anyway.”


End file.
